Cut throat competition at Wagah Border during flag down ceremony

Published on 10 Sep 2012 | over 5 years ago

Wagah Attari Border antics - the tallest soldiers from both sides march stridently at both ends of the border, to impress and frighten the other side! The Wagah border closing ceremony or 'lowering of the flags' ceremony is a daily military practice that the Border Security Force of India and Pakistan Rangers have jointly followed since 1959. This ceremony takes place every evening before sunset at the Wagah border, which as part of the Grand Trunk Road was the only road link between these two countries before the opening of the Aman Setu in Kashmir in 1999.

The ceremony starts with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both the sides, and ends up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nations' flags. It is called the beating retreat border ceremony on the international level. One infantryman or Jawan stands at attention on each side of the gate. As the sun sets, the iron gates at the border are opened and the two flags are lowered simultaneously. The flags are folded and the ceremony ends with a retreat that involves a brusque handshake between soldiers from either side, followed by the closing of the gates again. India and Pakistan not being on good terms, the soldiers from both sides try to outdo each other with exaggerating March and parades. The spectacle of the ceremony attracts many visitors from both sides of the border, as well as international tourists. In October 2010, Major General Yaqub Ali Khan of the Pakistan Rangers decided that the aggressive aspect of the ceremonial theatrics should be toned down

The India--Pakistan Border, known locally as the International Border (IB), is the international boundary between India and Pakistan that demarcates the Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat from the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh. Pakistan borders India in the east. The border resulted from the Partition of India in 1947, which resulted in the two states of India and (West and East) Pakistan. The Line of Control (LoC) separates The Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan administered Azad Kashmir.

Wagah, the ceremonial point of crossing between India and Pakistan lies along this border between the Indian city of Amritsar and the Pakistani city of Lahore, and is within close distance of both cities' urban sprawl. Wagah is the only road border crossing between Pakistan and India, and lies on the Grand Trunk Road between the cities of Amritsar, Punjab, India and Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Wagah itself is a village through which the controversial Radcliffe Line, the boundary demarcation line dividing India and Pakistan upon the Partition of India, was drawn. The village was divided by independence in 1947. Today, the eastern half of the village remains in the Republic of India while the western half is in Pakistan. It is particularly known for the elaborate Wagah border ceremony that happens at the border gate before sunset each day.

Source: Wikipedia

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